Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-02

Ar Int AVN
II takes quite a number Of well trained at
tendants To manage the immense crowds.
These AT the window, who admit the throng
pressing over the bridge, are tall, sturdy fel-
lows who can III a moment har the way and
stem the oncoming tide. They stand back
until thirty or forty people have entered the
house. when they cut Off tho stream Of hu-
manity. In this way all the evening they
keep the crowd from overhowing all control,
and make it possible for every one to spend
some time in the White House and then de-
part, making room for those VIII" are still
waiting Various WAYS OF handling the
crowd after it has entered the building have
been followed. The usual course Is TO send
the stream of callers up the oiiite stairs into
the main hall on the second floor, down its
length to the private staircase. down again TO
the main hall ON the first floor along 10 the
door of the red room, through this room into
the blue room where the president receives.
thence into the green room and the east
room Each person is presented to the presi-
dent by the marshal Of the district, to whom
the caller has first announced his name. Then
he is presented to Mrs. Cleveland by the
superintendent of public grounds and build
inSs At present both these officials bear the
name of Wilson The former i ALWAYS a
resident Of the district, the latter is an army
officer detailed for this duty. The ladies who
assist at these receptions are the wives OF cab
met ministers, or in their absence, whoever
OF their household is there to represent them
The room back Of the line, in which stand the
president and his wife and the ladies assist
ing, is filled with ladies and gentlemen who
have been specially invited to the reception
In the east room there is general com
mingling Of everybody. The main hall and
the east room are beautifully decorated with
flowers and palms All the evening they are
densely crowded with people who really seem
TO be enjoying themselves in observation Of
those present and conversation upon every
thing OF interest This, Of course, is the
pleasantest part Of the reception The long
hours of waiting are past, the stiff and stale
form Of being presented to the president is
over. and one has time TO catch his breath
and chat a little if he pleases. There are
celebrities all about you-generals and judges,
authors and inventors, philanthropiSts and
multi millionsires 1t is like any other mass
of Americans: the rich, the poor, the fashion
able, the common, the titled, the obscure, the
vulgar, the cultured, the learned, the ignor-
ant-these are ali hare The faces are various
and the most OF them unknown TO us, but to
one who has spent year or two in Washing
ton they seem quite familiar. Even If we do
not know the names we know the faces, and
if We do not know the faces We know the
types. By listening one may learn more.
For instance, listeni Two well dressed ladies
in street dre-s are talking at our left
What a JAM" "Oh, its nothing TO the
last one who are those horrid people yon-
DER That man with the lop eyer YES,
and the girl with the bony neck Those
are the Willowwigs" "You don't say Why
he's lilsgSry.-. YES, and that's his daughter.
going TO build here next year" Isn't Mrs
Cleveland entrancingr' Lovely; and she
don't give in to fashion, either" "Her neck.
You mean Yes" But She might" Yes,
she has a magnificent neck" "Why do We
alH avs call it neck Even when we mean
almost half the body Hush These are
the Hichchecks: he used 10 keep saloon. =
And she took in Washing But they've got
40 0Oo. 900 now. They show very little of their
vulgar beginnings when their mouths are
shut" did YOU see them in their box at the
opera last night!" did you ever see such dis
play, know be was tipsy- Well il she
Wdsll l. LOON intIt- ils congressman
Van Gelt- He can hardly write his name.
and never makes speech. because he can't
read it" His wife has gold teeth Did you
ever notice' The whole set is built of solid
gold Oh the old roots" 'She must be a bril-
liant conversa,ionalist Yes, when she
opens her mouth wide
This is enough to show that human nature
is a good deal the same here as elsewhere
The asSemhlage gradually pours itself ont
through the archei doorway, through which
for eighty old years 50 MANY presidents have
passed TO greet their callers daily or semi
weekly. In the main hall the throng
soon resolves itself INTO procession,
with a current set in toward the con-
servatory. II is here the pre- 'ident, they say,
told his love to pretty Miss Folsom In sooth
all these rooms are rich in associations. In
the east room, we just left, Nellie Grant was
married. Their. the body of Lincoln lay the
day after he was struck down There even
staid John Quincy Adams danced with Dolly
Madison There Jackson exercised his
hounds. There lad Lincoln PLAYED horse
with his father There the little Lamont
girls aired their dollies during their sojourn
in the White House in the summer of 1885.
At length the stream OF people winds its
way back through the main hall and out
through Louis Tiffap~'s artistic glass parti-
ton into the ante hail, and once again out
under the portico into the fresh air. 1t has
been a long, tedious. exciting evening Your
spine feels aS if 1t would drop out, your head
nches, your legs are numb with hours Of
standing. Once is enough! JOHN AYE
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